Blogs from Colonia del Sacramento, West, Uruguay, South America - page 6

A one hour ferry trip took us to the historic town of Colonia Del Sacramento, founded by the Portuguese in 1680 to smuggle contraband across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aries (which is on the opposite side of the river) into Uruguay. Today it is very much a tourist spot though we were visiting off season and the streets were near deserted on our arrival. Leaving the large terminal we eventually found a hotel on the edge of the old town - it was not a cheap place to stay - and the hotels within the historic area were double the price, despite the season. We only spent two nights in the town though we had planned to stay Saturday evening as well but the hotels prices increased again for the weekend! It was ... read more

hola amigos, well, it is Friday, so we thought we might as well pop over to Uruguay - as one does. from the decidedly frenetic and chaotic scenes of Buenos Aires, this is a trip back in time. Almost to, at a guess, I would say 1956 - possibly a Tuesday. The first rule about driving in Buenos Aires is that there are no rules. As a general guide, take all the drivers from Milan, Paris, Tokyo, New York and Wanstead, put them behind the wheel of a car, show them where the horn is and then blindfold them. Instruct them to drive as fast as they can in whatever direction they like, then you have down town BA. Without a word of a lie, we have seen buses, taxis and cars all going different directions ... read more

Geo: -34.4771, -57.8386"Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience."I just spent three days in Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay. Colonia is a smallish, waterside, switchy-off-and-relaxy kinda place, and I liked it. The souvenir shops were tacky, but I did come away with something – skin burned to buggery, as Nanny Pay would have said if she was still alive.Colonia is very easy to get to from Buenos Aires by ferry (www.buquebus.com, return trip for around 300 Argentinean pesos/U$S75/£50, less if you book well in advance). The end of December is the beginning of summer and averaged 32 or 33°C with ... read more

Old, well-preserved/restored colonial towns are some of my favorite places, and Colonia de Sacramento is a gem. The Barrio Histórico (historic neighborhood) is a UNESCO World Heritage site of small, charming, 17c buildings (now often museums or restaurants), rough, cobble-stone streets and a lighthouse tucked inside a ruined convent--all snuggled in a peninsula that juts into the wide, Rio de la Plata. Like the rest of the town, its streets are shaded by bowers of ancient, leafy sycamore trees, cooling me from the ever-increasing summer sun. Colonia enjoys a Mediterranean climate similar to Santa Barbara's, and my heart leaped to see familiar hanging wisteria, vibrant bougainvillea, fragrant oleander, purple jacaranda and lots more. I was in paradise and stayed days longer than the few hours needed to explore the tiny old town. Like many places I ... read more

This entry covers a couple of my weekend trips around Uruguay as well as some more pictures from Montevideo. On the weekends, I’ve tried to find a balance between hanging out in Montevideo and seeing things outside the city. Over the last couple weekends I went camping along the Rio Negro (in the center of Uruguay) and to Colonia Del Sacramento, which is an old colonial town established by the Portuguese in 1680. Last Sunday, I also had the chance to go watch a Candombe practice which is an experience that most tourists don’t get to see. Candombe is a type music that originated from Uruguayan slaves and has progressed into a traditional performance that is desplayed on the streets during Carnival and certain other holidays. There are 3 different types of drums that are used ... read more